Hyakki Yagyō [ 百鬼夜行 ]

*Rrrrring* All units to O2 Arena, explosion and possible Casualties reported. Repeat. All units to O2 ARENA!

“Chief Taylor! The squad is ready to move out. Are you coming?”

“Let’s hurry! Before this mess gets any worse… Dammit!”

“Sir...?”

“Ever since the Institute announced the Tech Convention things have only been shadier than ever… Lieutenant, make sure we can hold a parameter to keep the public safe!”

“Yes, sir!”

3 hours Earlier

Two months passed and the dawn of the big tournament technology convention arrived. After months of training, Luna was kind enough to let our last week off to build up our strength and energy. Early in the morning we got in her car and drove to pick up the other two boys, making our way to the O2 Arena.

During the months leading to this day, the director of the institute made his organization public, with the promise to show the people what humanity and technology can achieve together. Although Luna believes it’s a stunt to attract investors to his research.

Whatever it was, there was one job for us to do which was fundamentally simple: Fight our opponents and win.

As we walked over to the Arena, the entire plaza was decorated. It was truly a convention, souvenir stands, showcases of new technology, it was fun to see. Luna allowed us to browse around. She believed a bit of recreation like this would help our focus in a sense. And so we browsed stands and even came across a few food stands.

“Oi! Austin, that ain’t fair you Far Cry, protagonist wannabe! How come you get yourself a crepe without offering us some?!” shouted an energetic tomboy wearing a loose white shirt with an undone red tie and a black miniskirt in the distance. I glanced over to observe the commotion.

“That’s right Austin!” Said a younger girl wearing cute overalls and her hair tied in twin tails “You need to be sensible when buying sweet stuff around a lady!”

“The stand is there, you can get it if you want to…Ow—!” The baby-faced boy wearing a flannel with rolled-up sleeves quickly bit his tongue as his head got karate-chopped by a taller boy, with what seemed to be crimson eyes wearing a red hoodie.

“There, There idiot,” the boy handed Austin some cash. “Do me a favour and buy them crepes please… I’ll explain the social value of this later.”

“Uh… Fine, I guess. Sorry girls.” Austin scratched his head.

“Now, Now, It’s fine~ All well ends well! Let’s go Freya~! What do you want in your crepe?”

“Chocolate and strawberries!” said the young girl named Freya. Her smile made my heart melt as I thought “Who is this ray of sunshine?!”

“Alright! Let’s go!” said the tall girl as she left with the two leaving the Red hooded boy behind. Somehow we approached him as we kept wondering about when I heard Colt’s Voice.

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t Ace Adams himself!” the boy turned to face Colt

“Ah, whatcha doing here, Colt?”

“Heh, I’m here to win the tournament today! Something you will only fail to achieve since I am here now.”

“Is that right?” Ace looked over to me and Kevin “I’m guessing the cute girl and the cool-headed guy are your teams, huh?”

“That’s right! But anyway, I wanted to ask.” Colt paused for a second “Did you manage to score yourself a girlfriend yet, huh, Ace?” Ace’s face turned sour as he looked back at Colt.

“You’re still on that, huh?”

“What’s that? Still nothing? Nada? Zilch?” Colt chuckled like a Lynx “Can’t blame you! How could you compete with a relationship like mine and—”

“Couldn’t care less about it, dude.” interrupted Ace “I told you before, didn’t I? I don’t yearn for something I'm not ready for.” I felt a chill down my spine as he spoke “If I truly yearn for something, I’ll reach out and grab it, while you take what you barely manage to maintain. I’ll be given what I'm owed. That’s all.”

His words spoke true, he knew and believed in it although it’s faint, that certainty is there. “I’ll see y’all in the Arena, don’t cry when you lose, ‘kay?” he waved back at us as he left for the Arena leaving Colt speechless and subtly infuriated. Kevin looked at us then changed the mood quickly.

“Well, about time we ready ourselves too, don’t wanna be late for our own victory, do we?” He chuckled

“That’d be frustrating after all, let’s go!” I said as we began to rush to find Luna.

Once we all got to our waiting rooms, each pairing was announced through a screen. Colt would go up against Ivy Morgan, Kevin against Austin Hayes and Layla Reynolds would go up against Ace Adams. I was excited. Finally, the time has come to show the fruition of my work. Although this was only meant to be a distraction, It means I can test my limits… This way I can help Luna as best I can.

I don’t know when it started. Both my parents loved me, but I never felt their presence as they buried themselves in work.

When I was a child, I'd catch glimpses of them after school, or maybe on the weekends. But it was as if they were ghosts. They appeared if they wanted to; only showed themselves if they wanted to be seen. I never had a say in that. Maybe I asked for a day out in the park, or if I could join them on a walk.

“That'd be great, one day we should do that.” was all I was told, it wasn’t a promise, it was a suggestion.

At one point I was eight years old when my parents began business trips abroad, my father maybe was asked over to be a consultant for construction companies. Not long after, my mother being the spirited journalist she was, given the opportunity to document stories abroad was her calling, she’s gotten so successful and achieved a lot to the point where she can’t stop.

It wasn’t long until my birthdays were attended just by me and Luna in the end.

The school was a way I could escape from thinking about what bothered me the most. I drowned myself in my studies until I fell with a cold. During those days I remember Luna taking care of me. Gave me medicine, fed me, all by my side as I got better. During those days she asked me what my dream would be.

As a child, I had small dreams but this is something that came from the heart. “My dream is to be able to fly to see mommy and daddy now and then.”

Years passed since I muttered that dream, getting used to the fact that my parents were busy. The only messages I got from them were Christmas cards and birthday presents. None of them had any value to me. They had no heart as I received them, no one was there to see my reaction for them, and it only felt emptier with each year.

On my 15th birthday, however, Luna gave me the gift that I would treasure forever. She was a cybernetics bioengineer. She managed to design beautiful wings that helped me fly. They were robotic, made of steel, yet they glowed in a beautiful gold and cerulean blue. I remembered a child’s small dream that day. I realised that sadly, it wouldn’t make a difference seeing my parents.

She alone raised me into the woman I am now.

Half an hour passed as Luna, Kevin and I made our way to sit as spectators in the arena. A row forward were our opponents, Ace Adams, Austin. The adorable girl named Freya sat next to Ace as well. Behind us was Luna and what I could only assume to be Silver Heins. As the stadium filled up with spectators, the noise began to rise as we approached the start of the big event. After what seemed a long wait, the music finally played announcing the beginning of the first match with the announcer warming up the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Institute’s Tech-Con Special event! At the O2 Arena tonight we have a special treat that you’ve all been waiting for! The First-Ever Demonstration of our research into CyberTechnology! The first two matches will pit 4 of the most skilled, athletic and focused fighters we have. Using Our inventions to show you all their raw strength! And for our last match… The first-ever match of Cybernetic and Bioengineering researches combined… These two opponents will be fighting to win the GRAND Prize of TEN THOUSAND POUNDS.”

The crowd cheered, the stadium was in high spirits, yet I felt like an animal at a zoo. I wouldn’t know for sure, but I hoped I wasn't the only one feeling this way.

“And Now… from our Left CORNER, we give you the Son Of Director Doyle! Colt Samuel Doyle!” The crowd applauded as Colt made his way to the arena, showing himself off and flexing his scrawny body.

“What are you doing you, idiot—”

“What are you doing you, idiot—” murmured Ace in jinx with me. He looked back as we both chuckled shyly at the occurrence.

“And In our RIGHT CORNER, A Girl so fierce, she could lift a Tiger, she blows away her opponents with a piercing gaze, it’s IVY MORGAN”

Ivy waved at the spectators and smiled as she heard the cheers. She took her place as she stretched to warm up before the fight. “For this fight, our Contestants have microphones which will let us hear any conversation they might have! This is to both fuel theirs and your energy, dear spectators!” I thought that it was oddly convenient for that to happen, still paid no mind to it. It was a good chance to see what the other team is like.

“Say, don’t you think you should just give up and spare yourself from humiliation?” said Colt as he belittled Ivy.

"Hah? What're you tryin' to say, you bastard?" Ivy cracked her knuckles as her fury seemed to rise

"I mean that I'm not really into hitting women, of course, if you come for me… I'm sure as hell going to do something about it."

"Heh, is that so…?"

"It's pretty obvious what you should do, girly. Go home and let the big fish handle the—GH!"

Before Colt could finish, In an instant Ivy phased in front of him as she sucker-punched his mug into the arena's wall.

"And here you have it, folks! Ivy is using gauntlets that alone can only slightly increase the weight of your punch! When in a user's hand It is a very fatal weapon!"

"Y-You, How dare you ruin my Face!?" In shock, Colt cried out with anger."

"Ruined? I basically fixed it for you, now Everyone can be spared from your stupid-looking mug."

Ivy kept her guard up as she watched Colt's every move. She was wild, but careful, from what we knew, she used to use a rapier, I'm guessing it limited her true abilities… these bunch, they haven't been slacking at all during these 6 months…

"You… You wench!" Colt began to desperately dash towards Ivy, he unsheathed his Two-handed Double bladed sword as he began to swing at her in anger. With each swing, it seemed to have no effect over Ivy as after a while she jumped back cartwheeling away from Colt a good distance and landing.

“And you brag about having a girlfriend?” provoked Ivy “No wonder Ace calls you a lost cause.”

“He what…?” murmured Colt "That second-rate...Weird kid..? That COUTH?!" Colt raged as he started rushing in the attack "I'll show Him! I'LL SHOW HIM DESPAIR—"

In his fury, his gut was left unguarded as Ivy used that opening to strike him. She knocked him out and left him down as she spoke a few more words.

"Making threats is one thing, but an unbalanced motivation causes your core to fall with your strength." She took Colt's sword and threw it next to him. " Now take your time reflecting on how you got beaten by a girl you didn't want to hit, 'Mr Gentleman.' What a joke…"

She turned and left as she looked at the cheering crowd. she saw all the women and girls' smiles as she waved back. Although Colt is my teammate I cannot say he didn't deserve what he got.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Ivy Morgan Wins! Both physically and morally! Hopefully, Colt takes this as a Lesson to not underestimate his future opponents! We'll be right back once we prepare the stage for Our NEXT match up. Austin Hayes against Kevin Thomson!"

The crowd used this time to take breaks as they made their way out of the arena, finding time for food and whatnot. We on the other hand came prepared. We all reached into our bags taking out our lunches. Chosen by us, prepared by whatever fast food restaurants we wanted! For me I chose Taco Bell’s crispy chicken burrito with crispy seasoned fries melting in my mouth with every bite, exploding in flavours. And the crunch…! As I enjoyed my meal I noticed everyone else’s: Kevin had himself some packed Thai food, which looked like udon noodles with chicken, can't say he’s got no taste of course. Ivy made her way back in front of us, in her hand was a packed KFC bag as she waved to Ace, Freya and Austin. Austin had a McDonald’s bag and Ace and Freya shared a Wendy’s takeaway.

As Ivy sat down I quickly tapped her shoulder so she could lend me her attention.

“Somethin’ up?” she asked

“I wanted to apologise on behalf of Colt, Ivy… And thank you for clobbering him, I would've done it myself too.” I chuckled as she joined me

“It’s fine, It’s fine. Not your fault and don’t apologize for him. Ace warned me about how odd a bastard he is but… Wow.!” She looked at Ace in shock and disbelief.

“Yeah, I know!” he said “Insane right?” he shook his head as he turned around to face us with Freya adorably copying Ace. Who is this precious kid? I thought to myself

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe he took such a defence to what I said,” explained Ivy.

“What do you mean?” I asked while Kevin seemed to be off in his own little world.

“Well, Colt and Ace used to be friends, you know?” She went on as she bit her chicken strip. “It’s better if he explains this.” I turned to Ace as he gathered his thoughts.

“He hates me,” he said. “Only recently I found out that this fallout we had was brewing for a long time.” he sighed. “I treated him like a brother, we had a few good times together, and I cannot say we didn’t… However, the first change happened when he got in a relationship, it wasn’t noticeable at first, but he stopped socialising with us, me and my old group. Which we found odd. But we didn't pay it any mind until we thought more and more about how he acts.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s the most two-faced coward I have ever known.” Light anger and sorrow followed his words as he looked down, Freya holding his arm to comfort him.

“He doesn’t make it obvious but he thinks of himself as superior to all of us. Which you could probably tell now. Back in the day, he would distract us with this mopey facade that he would be the worst leader or something as such.”

“Basically putting himself down only to seem like he’s just not confident in himself. But then came one Fateful day where he Unfollowed me and Followed me back on social media.”

“Wait, why did that matter?” asked Ivy

“The next week he went over to my friends to paint himself as the innocent victim, and me as the bad guy because I chose not to talk to him that week.”

“Wait, He planned for you to see it and to react this way just so he can win pity points between your friends?!” I was shocked. I could not believe my ears.

“They were with me when he followed me back. But no, he didn’t come up with this by himself, he isn’t that smart. Our theory was that his girlfriend had a hand in it but at this point, it’s old news.” he sipped his energy drink then continued “For some reason, I realized this late, but he’s fighting with himself the most. Hates me because… I’m just me.” he fell silent as he pats Freya’s head. That silence spread under all of us until it was broken.

“Well, I don’t know where I am. I thought I came to see a few fights, not some gloomy round table talk.” Said a young man with textured copper skin, wearing a loose jumper, black jeans and white sneakers.

“Rion!” exclaimed Ace “So you came to see my swordsmanship?”

“What are you talking about, I’m here to check out the cute ladies, not gonna spend my day watching over guys swinging their swords at each other.” he joked as Ace approached him to shake his hand. “What’s good my brother?”

“All good, just bonding with my team and our opponents,” he said

“That’s a good strategy, who taught you that? Your sister I bet!”

“Well, she does believe her credit is due…”

“Of course it is, Acey!” Freya jumped up on the bench as she presented herself proudly. "After all you're all in the same boat! So it only makes sense!"

So she's Ace's sister. So cute…

"So, any news?" asked Ace as we all diverted our attention to the two. "Not at all, if Renaissance is making a move and even our organisation can't sense it, they're definitely still not ready to start."

"I see… we have to put up with being treated like animals in a zoo until they make a move, huh?" stated Ace.

Did he just…?

The time came for the second match to start, where Kevin and Austin left their seats to meet at the arena. The spectators made their way inside, Luna and Silver seemed to be back as well after being gone for a while. Little by little the Arena filled. The noise began a crescendo. Music blasted all around as the announcer started his act.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Allow me to welcome you all back to today’s biggest event! As of right now, we’ll be making a small announcement… The next two matches are to be played one after the other! Without further ado, Let’s begin!” The crowd broke in a wild cheer. "In our Left corner we have a man of few words, silent but deadly is his motto, I present to you the tactical prodigy, Austin Hayes!”

As Austin made his way to the stage with a great sword on his back that was almost the same size as him, Ace and Ivy struggled to hide their laughter.

“Oi… Ace, did you really—?” she asked

“Yep… pfft..” he replied, it seemed that they had a hand in the introduction.

“And in our Left corner, precision is his forte, no shot taken is a missed shot when it comes to… Kevin Thomson!” Kevin slowly made his way in as he swung back his bow. The two reached the centre of the stage as they exchanged eye contact. Kevin looked down on Austin while Austin grabbed the hilt of his sword and took a stance.

“Listen up, dude, you better give up while you’re at it... “ taunted Kevin “this ain’t a kid’s playground, haha!” childish, but works as a taunt. Austin seemed unphased, however. Suddenly the bell rang and both of them disappeared from their places. Within an instant, they clashed in the centre of the stage. Austin used his strength within his blade as Kevin barely managed to hold it back with his bow.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Kevin planned to go behind Austin to begin an arrow assault but before he could Austin managed to block him before had a chance. This is truly a showcase of skill at its finest!”

“There’s more to you, huh? Alright, then it’s time I get serious too!” Kevin dashed back to plan his next attack, he quickly pushed a button on his bow and hologram’s appeared next to him, about six of them.

They all spread and mixed to mislead Austin’s movement. As they surrounded him they all shot their arrows in unison, one after another not giving a chance for Austin to dodge, as he barely managed to, he blocked a whole lot of the arrows by swinging his sword, using the wide blade as a shield even but regardless a few arrows met their target. Kevin’s hologram’s started to advance towards him.

Austin remained calm as he snatched the arrows that hit him from his body, he looked at them then snapped them with one hand. In that same moment Kevin's clones were within sword distance from Austin, and gripping his sword, he swung it all around, knocking back the clones brutally.

Austin’s sword began to morph. He stopped for a moment as his sword turned to a minigun rifle. Without hesitation, Austin began to fire back rounds and rounds of devastating bullets towards Kevin’s clones. Kevin managed to avoid the fire as much as possible, but it wouldn’t last long without a plan.

At that moment Austin ceased his fire as his gun turned into the sword again. He prepared to rush. This was ‘do or die’.

Kevin prepared to fire his arrows, calculating them as fast as he could before Austin could charge. He fired them. Austin charged. Like a bull seeing red, all he aimed for was for a final swing at Kevin.

Within reach, Austin swung his sword while Kevin tried to step back but it was too late… for both of them. The arrows shot by Kevin earlier were similar to tranquillizer darts, one of them managed to hit Austin’s calf.

But before he went down, Austin used his remaining strength to use the flatness of his blade to knock Kevin out cold.

The match ended in a draw. Despite it, the crowd was pleased, they saw something amazing and they loved it. I for one felt more motivated to not be outdone. Ace and I made our way to our team rooms to prepare for the final match. He’s a good guy, but I won't go easy on him, even if this is just a zoo attraction…

I was just by myself… No one was around me. I walked through the entrance to the arena. Chasing towards the light in front of me. I heard my own breath and felt my body slightly tremble in excitement. The day has come where I show the world what I'm made of, and show who I’ve become thanks to Luna. No holding back.

As I entered the arena, I was greeted with cheers as the announcer introduced me. I couldn’t waste my time entertaining them as the noise faded away. Empty, quiet and calm. The perfect combination to keep me in touch with my mind, body and instinct. I breathed in as I gripped my spear.

From the opposite side, Ace made his walk to the stage. With a curved sword by his hip, he seemed calm. His eyes were closed and his stance was full of openings. Yet he was calm. I gazed at him waiting for the bell to ring. I gripped my spear and took my stance preparing to clash.

As he arrived at his corner he waved his hand over his face and a mask formed over his face. It was a mask of a demon.

Regardless of his appearance, the bell rang and we both dashed to confront the other. We met at a clash which caused the arena itself to form a crater under us. I peer into his fiery crimson eyes as he does the same, analyzing each other’s weak points to no success before we parry each other away.

Setting a distance for less than a second before, once again we’re at each other’s throats, we run and attack, he swings his blade and I block with my staff, he dodges my spear while I use it to kick him instead, I chase him from behind spinning my spear and ready to attack before he turns around and swings a wave of fire. In a surprise, I lose my balance in the air and fall back to dodge the attack.

I increase the distance before us, as I spread my wings and fly away from his attack, using this chance to switch my spear into the shotgun. I charge my attack, and using my wings I send them to keep Ace at bay, all my steel feathers attack him, while he manages to dodge or block some, he is also grazed by the same amount.

I bring my feather’s back as my attack is fully charged and aimed at Ace. I pull the trigger before he can do anything and bang. But as the charged bullet made its way to the target, I realised I miscalculated.

As if time moved at a thousandth of its normal speed, Ace raised his sword over his head and swung the blade down, cutting the bullet in two like butter, making the energy-charged within it disappear. In that same thousandth of a second Ace sheathed his blade into his scabbard. It was an elegant sight to see, a humble power stance that held no hatred or offence.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but despite anything, I still managed to wound him a little. It’s not obvious but I believe one of my feathers bruised his leg. Given his strength, I couldn't risk prolonging this fight in case he found a weak spot.

I spread my wings as I flew into the air above the Arena. I spun and pointed my spear up to power up an ultimate move. But before I could I needed Ace in a certain position. I threw a few of my feathers and made sure they formed a circle surrounding Ace within the battleground.

The wings discharged water, and enough of it to fill the arena to about two inches from the ground. Ace hurriedly plunged his sword into the centre of the arena as he balanced himself on the bottom of his hilt, away from the water. He was smart, but not smart enough. I had him exactly where I needed him. And even if he realized it’s too late… or so I thought.

Out of thin air, Ace threw chains all around him which managed to hit every one of my feathers. The chains were connected to what looked like throwing stars.

My final attack reached closer to its ultimate charge. I watched Ace as he acted in despair. He pulled the chains off the throwing stars. I thought that he aimed to pull out the feathers when it seemed his attack backfired. But then the sound of a high pitched saw multiplied by eight spread throughout the arena.

I took a look again at my feathers only to notice the throwing stars spinning at a terrifyingly high speed, even managing to rip into the steel. The sawing picked up as the throwing stars completely split all my feathers.

The stars went into the ground. But they weren’t done. They dug underground and made their way to the centre where Ace still kept perfectly still and balanced on the hilt of his sword. The throwing stars began to dig in a circle around him as fire leaked out of the ground little by little until a small wall of flames surrounded him.

All the water on the ground evaporated at a rate I never thought was possible.

He looked up at me and smirked as he took his sword and jumped over the flaming wall. He began to rush through the battleground in a circle while he used his blade as a flamethrower. His speed increased with each lap, he slowly enclosed his radius as he almost phased onto a flaming ball only to reappear in the centre again. The eye of the flaming hurricane.

He jumped up towards me but as high as I was he could never make it. He turned his back to me as he launched his sword into the bull’s eye of the arena and seconds later the ground erupted in a powerful flaming geyser boosting Ace towards me. My attack was ready.

I swung my spear down to Ace and at that moment a sharp pain pierced my spine as I felt my wings glitch in error. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t stop now. Using all the strength I had left I launched my attack on the Flaming Crimson serpent whose fangs were ready to attack and absorb me into a dark abyss as I closed my eyes waiting for my demise.

My body was weightless. A smell of light burning filled my nostrils as I slowly opened my eyes. To my surprise, all I saw was a red fabric and slowly looked up to see Ace’s jaw, his eyes and his face as my hand gripped his top.

“You okay?” he asked as he turned to me. “You pushed your wings too far, you know?” I was speechless as I slowly got a grasp of my situation.

“Tch, so you noticed,” I said sarcastically before feeling a chill over my spine I yelped in surprise.

“Take it easy, I’m repairing your wings with my tech.” He placed me gently on the ground as he held my back. “I’m sending a few nanobots to stabilise your cortex.” He explained. “This way you can at least rest easy.” I was flustered as I felt my wings slowly regenerate themselves.

“T-Thanks, I guess…” I retracted my wings and left them to heal. Ace helped me get up as I struggled to keep my balance. “So, you just happen to help girls you barely met with their cybernetics or is there some ulterior motive here?”

“You talk as if there’s a wide variety of them.” he chuckled

“I’ll just take it as an apology for breaking my tech, hehe.”

The announcer commented.

“And the winner IS clear! ACE MIURA ADAMS. Takes home the big prize!”

The crowd cheered and howled as confetti fell all over. While the excitement overwhelmed us, I took a glance at the stands where Luna was. Something was odd. Both her and Silver seemed distracted. I switched my gaze to their focus to see Freya on a strange girl’s lap covering her mouth with a handkerchief. Silver quickly tries to stop it but then another suspicious person barges in and.

BANG!

The suspicious person punched the stands into dust, we couldn’t make out a thing from it. Explosions are then heard all around causing a panic.

Spectators rush the doors and to safety. Ace and I are focused on the cloud of smoke where our peers were. A few seconds pass until the assailants leap out of the smoke onto the battleground.

“What in the—!” murmured Ace. “What are they doing?” it seemed he recognized the assailants.

“What is it, Ace? You know them?” I asked.

“Why are they here?” his face turned sour fast as he saw who Billie was carrying. Without any second thought, he rushed to his sister’s side. Preparing himself for a full-frontal attack he grips his sword by his side.

Just then a mysterious figure appears right before him kicking Ace away completely. Another womanly figure caught him and held him still by his arms. A third figure rushed and aimed for Ace but before he could make contact, Ace broke free from the woman and threw her over his back. Doing so he dashed back barely avoiding the third’s attack.

The woman wore a robotic helmet along with the other two assailants. Their patterns were different, and all wore suits.

Ace caught his breath as he noticed his top ripped by the third masked man. Before he could prepare the same woman and man began to launch combo attacks, using their daggers they rushed him.

Ace managed to barely keep them at bay, but even then he felt his body rip away little by little with each strike he blocked.

Suddenly he takes a different stance and as the assailants approach for their attack, he blows them away in an instant.

I watched Ace struggle as his body barely stood up, bleeding all over.

Colt made an appearance as he moved in front of Billie and Ethan. Joining the three suits as they began to float into the air, looking down on Ace.

“Give her back…” he murmured “Laverna… Assist mode 100… Enable Demon King mode.”

At that moment strong energy built up around Ace’s body. Anger, Fury and Fear combined. The pressure overwhelmed my own breathing, as I gazed over his back.

“I’LL TEAR YOU ALL APART!” He growled as he promised the group.

That was when the tallest of the Three masked assailants weaved a hand sign as he chuckled.

“System override, Laverna, standby set: Four Hours.” in that moment all of Ace’s energy dissolved into nothing “Execute command.”

Ace fell to his knees. Even I felt his energy drain at a rapid rate.

“Listen well, you’re of no use to me if you break. Spare parts are very important to me, you know.” And with that Ace fell to the ground as the group made their exit.

Quickly I hurried to Ace’s side, confirming his condition and confirming that his pulse... is still there.

Thank god...!